A FARCICAL LAW

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXVIII, Issue 120, 16 May 1932, Page 7

A FARCICAL LAW

<♦> Prohibited Calling THE GAMING ACT REVENUE FROM BOOKMAKERS This calling of a bookmaker and tho betting with a bookmaker, was prohibited by an amendment to the Gaming Act in 1910, and it came into force the following February. However, §inco then, despite the fact that the business is illegal, tho Government has apparently found it a good source of revenue says the Auckland Star. One bookmaker stated that in good times the amount handled by them in New Zealand would be about £5,000,000 while at present approximately £2,500,000 passed through their hands. About three years ago income tax officials visited his office and ■ demanded to see his betting slips, but he told them they had been destroyed. They then asked for his bank account, and assessed him on the transactions shown there. He had been paying on that amount ever since.

Another stated that the officers of the Government had also visited his office and wanted his betting sheets, but he told them he did not keep hooks They then asked for his banking sheets and these were produced. He was assessed for income and had also paid on that amount since then. There were probably a good many bookmakers that did not pay and that was simply because the department did not know -who they were. As soon as a bookmaker was prosecuted it gave the department the necessary information and they were not slow to profit by it. This was the way they knew. There is probably not a town in Now Zealand that has not its bookmaker or an agent ready to accommodate a person desirous of backing a horse. They must run into hundreds and all classes patronise them even politicians. A story is told by a member of Parliament, that some years ago he was speaking in the House in favour of bookmakers and during the course of his remarks said that if those present were stood on their heads and their pockets shaken, Mr Speaker would be surprised at the betting charts and cards that would bo disclosed. Later in the lobby a Minister remarked to him: "It’s a good job you did not stand me on my head —for notonly would you have found a betting chart hut a chit for the winning double at Wairarapa.”

Newspapers are not allowed to publish dividends, yet the bookmakers can tell a client what a horse paid in a comparatively short space of time after a race has been run. This information can only come through the Telegraph or Post Office —a Government DepartmentThesc facts only go to show what a farce the Act is. and it is not right that the Government should collect revenue from a business which it has declared to be illegal.